There are some workers who get little respect, despite the services they provide. Most bus drivers and conductresses will tell you that they fall into that category getting abuse from an ungrateful public, poor pay and little recognition. Lifestyle Reporter Nordia Henry recently spent a whole shift riding on a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus and shares this slice of life.STEPPING OUT of my comfort zone is not always pleasant, especially when it comes to riding around on a public bus chock-full of people pushing and poking. Still, to experience the life of a JUTC bus conductress for a day, I had to take this ride.
THURSDAY, 4:30 A.M.
There is nothing nice about getting out of bed this early. The sleep was just getting sweet when I heard this beep, beep the sound of the alarm clock telling me it was time to get up, get dressed and be on my merry way.
As I stepped outside, the crisp morning air greeted me. I could do nothing but embrace the day in the same way
I was forcing myself to embrace the thought of hanging out on a JUTC bus for several hours.
Can we just say that I was not ...er ... enthusiastic.
6:30 A.M.
We left the main JUTC depot at 26 Lyndhurst Road heading to Duke Street in downtown Kingston, the terminus where the bus would start its first pick up. The early morning trip wasn't as grim as I expected, instead of tight-lipped, groggy staff, the JUTC workers on the bus were joking with each other, laughing, smiling and in general helping to ease my tension.
I was assigned to the route 76 buses that operate from downtown, going via New Kingston to Barbican. It was fun but tiresome because of the endless driving. However, the true ordeal was listening to people's business, arguments, cussing, and being forced to endure unpleasant odour in some cases.
SINGLE BUS OPERATION
The bus that I rode on is called a
single bus operation, meaning that one person is both driver and conductor. The combination of the two tasks seemed difficult to me, a real hassle, but the driver/conductor assured me that he could handle the job because of his training.
Some commuters, on the other hand, were confused, as they were used to entering from the back door. The new system required them to enter through the front, pay the driver and exit from either front or back door. After the initial shock, commuters started muttering that the system would leave a lot of workers jobless. The complaints ran along the lines of: "Dis yah sinting a waste a time cause wid di oddar system yuh come in long time and door shut while conductress a collect. Now yuh have fi wait till driver done collect and it a waste mi time."
"A wey dis PJ a gwaan wid, 'im mussa crazy."
There was, however, the odd voice here and there that was willing to give the new process a try. "Yuh know di problem wid us is we nuh love change, wi nuh learn fi appreciate wey others do fi wi."
One woman eventually got onto the vexing topic of the length of time it took to fill the buses and for the drivers to leave. In a quiet moment I asked the driver about this problem. He explained that they operate according to a schedule. His schedule clearly shows the various times that the bus should leave each terminus and arrive at the next. Therefore, sometimes the bus will remain for eight minutes, or 10 minutes at a terminus before leaving. The time increases or decreases according to traffic and how far he is behind or ahead of schedule.
"This system exists in most parts of the world," noted Keith Goodison, JUTC's Vice President of Employees and Publication. "We are trying to improve the efficiency of the system. As it relates to the conductors/conductresses who used to work on these buses, they will not be out of a job but they will be trained to become drivers. These are just new buses added to what we have already. These buses are only on five routes because we have to look at the risk that one person could face in certain areas."
He also notes that regular drivers are paid $178 per hour but these single bus operators would be paid more.
DRAMA PON DI BUS
It didn't take long for my behind to start feeling sore because of the hard seat. I observed that at least the driver had a cushionable seat.
Still, this is Jamaica and I was soon distracted from the tension in my rear for a while to another kind of drama. As I sat there dying to go home one woman started the dramatic story about her experience with higglers. She chattered along with comments like: "Higglers nah gaw 'eaven! But if yuh see one deh, she run through di gate when God gone pon him lunch break or when him gone peepie."
It was hilarious and the entire bus erupted into a cacophony of laughter. In her ackee, our dramatic storyteller kept going: "Higglers will give yuh bad money and den when yuh tek it to anodda one fi buy sinting, dem look inna yuh eye and tell yuh dat dem nuh waan dat deh money cause it nuh good."
Now, that did not sit well with one woman who was sitting across from the storyteller. It seemed that she was a higgler probably one of who 'nah gaw 'eaven' and she plugged her fingers in her ears and gave the other woman a scornful look each time something rubbed her the wrong way. Finally, not able to take it any longer she picked up her bags and dashed as soon as a far away seat became vacant.
Passengers had a good laugh, while also voicing their opinions about the impolite behaviour of some higglers.
After such a light-hearted moment, my driver explained his on-the-job philosophy. "You have to know how to deal with people because we are all humans. Sometimes we give each other headaches but in the end if commuters don't take the buses there would be no need for them and if drivers don't drive the buses commuters won't have any bus to take, so each actor has a role to play."
RELIEF AT 3:00 P.M.
By the end of my shift I had come to appreciate what it takes to be a smooth JUTC operator. It's not easy sitting around a steering wheel from 6:20 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; stepping in to calm sore tempers; give an ear or a helping hand in a crisis; as well as operating safely and on schedule.
Whew! This little slice of life could be so much easier if we learned to respect each other.
